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THE ASS-END OF NOWHERE
To find our performances, patrons journey out to the far edges of
Buffalo's post-industrial wasteland. The former Kitchen
Distribution Warehouse sits quietly on the banks of the Niagara River in
what was once -- in decades past -- the heart of our City's riverfront
industrial district.
Ghosts of by-gone eras seem to await you around every corner as you park
in this all-but-abandoned neighborhood and proceed through the green
metal door into this Turn-of-the-Century warehouse. |
THE MUSES BECKON
Once inside, muse-like actresses clad in white shimmering costumes and
neutral masks beckon you down rickety wooden stairs into the shadowy
bowels of this massive, cavernous building. |
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WELCOME TO THE ANTI-THEATRE
And then you arrive in a performance space like no other -- beware of
random visits from the friendly neighborhood fruit bat! |
ONE SMALL STEP FOR MAN...
As the play begins in the tiny cell of a Spanish prison in 1969, half-deranged prisoner
Amiel (Brian Zybala*, left) tells news of the recent Moon landing that
he's read of in stolen newspaper clippings to his cellmates, mute Pronos
(Leonard Ziolkowski, down center) and cynical Katar (Lawrence Rowswell*,
standing right). |
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A SILENT WITNESS
One of the four muses (Candice Kogut) stands as the quiet witness of the
long-condemned prisoners' daily suffering. |
ESCAPIST FANTASIES
Shut up for fifteen hours a day in the filthy cell, prisoner Amiel
(Brian Zybala*, left) slips into a bizarre sexual fantasy in which he
tells crass prostitute Roupa (Jessica Stuber*, right) of homosexual
marriages on the moon. |
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ON THE CRAPPER
Forlorn prisoners Amiel (Brian Zybala*, left), Katar (Lawrence
Rowswell*, center), and Pronos (Leonard Ziolkowski, right) morosely take
their morning dump in the metal bucket in the corner of their cell. |
NIGHTMARES OF CONDEMNED
Even in his sleep, Prisoner Katar (Lawrence Rowswell*, shadow down
right) is tormented by gruesome memories of his hateful wife Drima
(Jessica Stuber*, standing shadow left) as she returns in shadow-form. |
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BEYOND WORDS
As the prisoners sleep, we catch a perplexing glimpse of the twisted
fantasies of mute and muzzled prisoner Pronos (Leonard Ziolkowski, left) as he
dreams of a freakish visit with his less-than-empathetic wife Imis (Dechen Dolkar,
right). |
FIGHTING BACK!
Finally at wit's end, prisoner Amiel (Brian Zybala*, right) throws a
desperate punch that sends one particularly brutal guard (Dechen Dolkar,
left) sprawling. |
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THE FACE OF BRUTALITY
Enraged by the acts of defiance, a sadistic warden (Jessica Stuber*,
center) orders vicious punishment for the troublesome prisoners (Mary
Jayne Ertel, far left, and Brian Zybala*, near right) as guards (Dechen
Dolkar, near left, and Candice Kogut, far right) eagerly go to work. |
THE DEATH OF A POET
Devastated by repeated torture and half-deranged from decades of
imprisonment, Amiel (Brian Zybala*, center) tells his cellmates the
painful story of the fascist execution of Spain's great poet Federico
Garcia Lorca -- which Amiel describes as "the hour when they put handcuffs on the flowers"
-- as Lorca's shadow (Dechen Dolkar,
right) rises behind him. |
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THE MAD GENIUS AT WORK!
Bohemian musician Patrick Cain produces the play's utterly unique live
soundscape from his endless arsenal of found sound instruments
including hanging pots and pans brought from his own kitchen, a propane
tank that serves as a steel drum, and a number of handcrafted
contraptions that defy explanation. |
DO NOT GO GENTLY INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT
Muzzled and wrongfully condemned prisoner Pronos (Leonard Ziolkowski,
center) fights desperately as guards (Candice Kogut, left, and Mary
Jayne Ertel, right) drag him off to execution under the haunting gaze of
the warden (Jessica Stuber*, far right). |
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DON'T EVER LEAVE ME
Facing a whole different form of torture, revolutionary leader Tosan
(Victor Morales, right) is haunted by his shadowy memories of his loving
wife Fallidia (Candice Kogut, left) as she pleaded with him not to go
off to war. |
THE DEATH OF A REVOLUTIONARY
Fallidia (Candice Kogut, down right) watches in horror as her husband --
the unrepentant revolutionary leader Tosan (Victor Morales, seated
shadow) -- is strapped into Spain's traditional execution device: the garroting
chair. |
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THE ENSEMBLE UNMASKED!
Top row from left to right: Actors Leonard Ziolkowski and Victor
Morales, Director Kurt Schneiderman*, Musician Patrick Cain, Actors
Brian Zybala* and Lawrence Rowswell*.
Bottom row from left to right: Actresses Dechen Dolkar, Candice
Kogut (who also served as this production's Fight Captain), Jessica
Stuber* (who also served as this production's Costume Designer), and Mary Jayne Ertel. |
